FREEMEN OF THE BOROUGH OF DERBY V. MIDLAND RAILWAY COMPANY, 1892-1893

These documents were purchased by Derbyshire County Council in March 1997

This legal case centred upon clause 15 in the Midland Railway Company Bill of 1892 which permitted the company to compulsorily purchase land "in the townships of St Peters and Litchurch in St Peters, Derby between the River Derwent and the Derby Canal and north east of the Company's locomotive works at Derby". The land was owned by the Freemen of the Borough of Derby, who objected to the purchase. The Midland Railway Company had already encroached (legally), on the Freemen's access road to the land in question by widening the railway, though they had refused to pay any compensation. The Freemen sought to protect their ownership of the land, particularly as they saw its potential for increased value as it could, they believed, be used for the erection of "manufactories, works, warehouses, etc."

The case went to arbitration, the outcome of which was that the company could purchase the land and pay compensation at a total cost of £6372.